Consistency is the most important single rule in highway design.

Drivers expect the highway agency to provide them with: 1. Clear information and guidance through a variety of road signs. 2. Avoiding abrupt changes in the traffic as well as the road standards. The roadway facilities are considered satisfactory if the guidelines and directions could be planned properly to convey messages one at a time. Experienced highway Engineers recommended that highway signs and directions should be integrated as early as the preliminary layout studies. American Association of State Highway and Transporatation Officials (ASSHTO) was established as an association of State Territorial and Columbia Highway Department, and the Federal Highway Administration. In 1973, the Department of Transportation integrated the name ASSHTO from ASSHO which gives the power to have its own operation. ASSHTO publications includes: 1. 2. 3. 4. Transportation Materials Specifications and Tests. Specification for highway bridges Geometric design standards Numerous policy statements and guides

Roads and Highways. It is defined as strips of land that have been cleared and further improved for the movement of people and goods. Road. It is generally describe as a public thoroughfare. It also refer to railways. Highway. It is describe as a public road built by digging ditches on both sides and heaping up the earth in the middle creating a way higher than the adjacent land. Expressway. It is a divided arterial highway for through traffic with full or partial control or access and generally provided with grade separation at major intersections. Freeway. It is freeway with a full control access. Control of Access. It is a condition where the rights of owners or occupants of adjoining land or other persons access to light, air or view in connection with a highway is fully partial or partially controlled by public authority. Full Control of Access. The authority to control access is exercised to give preference to through traffic by access connections with selected public roads. Crossing at grade or direct private driveway connections is not permitted. Partial Control of Access. The authority to control access is exercised to give preference to through traffic. Although in addition to access connections with selected public roads there may be some crossings at grade and some private driveway connections allowed. Through Street or Through Highway. Every highway or portion thereof on which vehicular traffic is given preferential right of way, and at the entrance to which vehicular traffic from intersecting highways

is required by law to yield right of way vehicles on such through highway in obedience to either stop sign or yield signs erected thereon. Parkway. It is an artificial highway for non-commercial traffic, with full or partial control of access usually located within a park or ribbon park-like development. Arterial Street. It is an arterial route that carries traffic to the nearest access point or through traffic. It often serves as the most advantageous routes for relatively long distance travel. Most arterial streets are existing highways of considerable length along which cross traffic is regulated by signals or stop signs. It is also considered as a make do substitute for controlled access facilities when traffic volume exceeds about 20,000 vehicles per day. Basic Consideration in Planning Arterial Roads 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Selection of the routes. Studies of traffic volume. Origin and destination. Accident experienced. Width should not be less than 15 meters. Must carry at least one lane of traffic in each direction. Should be at least one kilometer in length. Should skirt neighborhood areas rather than penetrate them. On the grid design system streets, arterials are spaced at about 600 to 900 meters apart. Where accident hazard is not a factor, the minimum volume to justify arterial road is 300 vehicles per average hour during the day, and 450 vehicles hourly during peak periods.

To increase the arterial capacity the following solutions are enforced: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. During peak hours, parking is prohibited on or both sides of the street. Parking is prohibited several meters away from each side of the road intersections or corners. Right turn is allowed on red signals any time with care. Left turns are eliminated on congested intersections. The direction of traffic is reversed in the center lane to provide more lanes in the direction of heavier traffic flow.

Collector Street from smaller mesh grid pattern where passengers are pick up from service streets and carried to arterials. Large commercial enterprises amusement facilities like drive in theaters are mostly fronting arterial roads. Local Road. It is defined as street or road primarily for access to residence, business, or other the other adjoining properties. Highway Capacity. It is defined as the maximum number if vehicles that are reasonably expected to pass a given period of time usually expressed as vehicles per hour. The relationship between vehicle speed and highway capacity is that as the volume of the traffic approaches capacity, the average is markedly reduced.

Average Annual Daily Traffic (ADDT or ADT). It refers to traffic volume or flow on a highway was measured by the number of vehicles passing a station during a given interval of time if the period is less than one year. Observed Traffic Volume. Volume may be stated on hourly or estimated 30th hour volume which is commonly used for design purposes. Some Highway agencies use traffic volume for 5 minutes interval to distinguish short peak movements of the vehicles.

The Design Speed ASSHTO defined Design Speed as: The speed determined for design and correlation of the physical feature of a highway that influence the vehicles operation. It is the maximum speed that can be maintained over a specified section of the highway when weather and traffic conditions are so favorable that the design features of the highway govern. Basic Design Features refers to the tightness and super elevation of curves, the slight distance, and grade. The design speed is basically higher than the anticipated average speed. ASSHTO recommended that: The design speed be set to the greatest degree possible, to satisfy the needs of nearly all drivers both today and throughout the road anticipated life. For economic reasons, the Geometric Features of certain road sections are designed for speed from 30 to 50 kilometers per hour. Highway design adopted control by reducing the super elevation combined with easement curves, delineators, stripping signs and rumble strips to alert motorists and inform them that, they are approaching sharp curves or blind curves. Selection of proper road design speed is one of the most important decisions to make, because it sets the limit to curvature, sight distance and other geometric figures. The AASHTO practice is to classify first the highway as Rural or Urban, then as Freeways, Arterials, Collectors and Local. Rural collectors and local facilities are classified as flat, rolling, or mountainous. Although the design speed presently used is 80 km. per hour, highway designers projected design speed up to 120 kilometers per hour to guarantee against future obsolescence as well as the increased margin of operating safety. The high speed road design must anticipate future generation high speed vehicles and advanced transportation systems that may operate on many these road ailments. Although the design speed of most highways is governed by construction costs, the concept of the relatively high speed design for freeways is Regardless of Cost. They are planned for a nationwide high volume traffic and high speed network. Cross section of Typical Highway The cross section of a typical highway has a latitude of variables to consider such as: 1. The volume of traffic.

2. Character of the traffic. 3. Speed of the traffic. 4. Characteristics of motor vehicles and of the driver. Highway design. It is usually adopted cross section that is uniform in thickness from end to end of the improvement. This is acceptable on high volume traffic road facilities, modification of the features like the shoulders width in rough areas are usually employed to reduce costs. A cross section design generally offers the expected level of service for safety and a recent study showed that 1. A 7.20 meters wide pavement has 18% less accident compared with pavement narrower than 5.50 meters wide. 2. A 7.20 meters wide pavement has 4% fewer accidents that the 6.00 meters wide roadway. 3. Accident records showed no difference between the 6.00 meters and the 7.20 wide pavement. 4. For the 6.00 m., 6.60 m and 7.20 m wide pavement with 2.70 to 3.00 m wide shoulder, record accident reduces 30% compared to 0 to 0.60 m wide shoulder. And 20% compared with .90 to1.20 meters wide shoulder. A drivers instinct when overtaking or allowing other cars to overtake or meting oncoming vehicles is to look at the surface width of the highway, and see the kind of surface to position the car. Due to the increased number of vehicular accidents the width of the roadway was adjusted to 4.80 to 5.40 meters. Later, the width of the road was standardized to 3.00 m for first class paved one lane highway, and now 3.60 meters wide surface was adopted standard for freeways and other major traffic roadways. For Two Lane Rural Highways, a 7.20 meters wide surface is required for safe clearance between commercial vehicles is recommended for main highways. For Collector Roadway, 6.00 meters wide surface is acceptable only for low volume traffic including few trucks traveling thereon. For Local Rural Roadway, the minimum surface width is 4.80 meters for a 30 kph design speed. For Urban Roadway, the minimum design width is 3.60 meters although 3.00 meters is allowed where the space is limited. Road Shoulder Road Shoulder or verge. It is defined as the portion between the edge of the traffic lane and the edge of the ditch, gutter, curb or side slope. ASSHTO requires the usable pavement width shall be strong enough to support the vehicles. Importance of Road Shoulder 1. Road shoulder serves as a place for vehicles to stop when disabled or for some other purposes. Road shoulder considerably reduces road accidents. 2. The road capacity is decreased and accident opportunity increases if the shoulder is too narrow or omitted in the design. 3. Shoulder should be continuous along the full length of the roadway. It also adds structural strength to the road pavement.

4. Shoulder increases the horizontal sight distance on curves. It reduces accident potential when vehicle stop during emergencies. The Uniform Traffic Control Device Manual provides that: All inter-town or city highways shall be provided with edge line and may be used on other classes of roads. A continuous narrow white line strip at the edge of the roadway serves as guide to drivers during bad weather and poor visibility conditions. The white strips tend the driver to stay in the traffic lane and the vehicles seldom infringe on the shoulder. Policy on Geometric Design Recommended that: 1. Outside shoulder should be paved for at least 3.00 or 3.60 meters wide if truck volume is more than 250 in the design hour. (ADT) 2. The recommended width or left (median) shoulder is 1.20 to 2.40 meters with at least 1.20 meters paved. 3. If there are 6 or more lanes, the median shoulder should be 3.00 meters wide or 3.60 meters if truck volume in the design hour exceeds 250. 4.